Welterweight prospect Jacobe Smith kept his perfect record intact at UFC 317 on Saturday, submitting veteran Niko Price with a rear-naked choke at 4:03 of the second round. The bout, part of the preliminary card at Las Vegas’s T-Mobile Arena, moved the former Oklahoma State wrestler to 11-0 and gave him the first submission finish of his professional career. Smith entered the fight as an overwhelming favourite—odds hovered near –2,400—and largely justified them, controlling the opening round with takedowns and heavy ground-and-pound. Price threatened with several submission attempts from his back, but a scramble early in Round 2 allowed Smith to secure back control and force the tap. The victory, Smith’s second inside the UFC, solidifies the 29-year-old as an emerging name in the welterweight division and could earn him a step-up opponent later this year. Price falls to 16-9 (1 no-contest) and has now lost five of his last six outings.